


By Any Other Name

by quartetship



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Illustrated, Inspired by Art, Inspired by Fanart, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-22 21:19:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7454332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartetship/pseuds/quartetship
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Keep tellin’ yourself that, Lance.” Keith laughed. “S’just a rock.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	By Any Other Name

**Author's Note:**

> A short and beautifully illustrated bit of fluff, with art courtesy of my lovely friend [Glory Cat](https://twitter.com/GloryCat)!
> 
> Enjoy!

\--

“Here you go, Lance.”

Keith wiggled a small blue stone from where it jutted out of the surface of the alien planet where he and Lance were collecting crystals. Turning it over in his fingers, it crackled and sparkled, stretching itself into something like a vine. It wrapped around Keith’s fingers, the top blooming into a tiny starburst of blue and violet stones, like the petals of a flower. He turned and offered it out for Lance to look at. 

“What is it?” Lance asked, eyeing it cautiously. Keith shrugged. That apparently wasn't enough of an answer for Lance. 

“Dude, that thing is like snaking around your hand, and you're not even concerned? It's got like thorns and stuff!” Lance reached into his pocket to retrieve his bayard, but Keith only laughed. 

“They're not thorns, they're just smaller rocks. Seriously, look.” He punched his hand out toward Lance. The stone had stopped moving, still and strikingly beautiful on his hand. Lance looked at it for another long moment before finally taking to his knee to examine it. 

“It's… It's actually pretty cool,” he admitted, watching it sparkle in the low light of the planet’s foggy atmosphere. “What is it, you think?”

Keith shrugged one shoulder. “Just some kind of rock, I guess. Never know what we’re gonna find on these planets out here. Pretty, though.” 

“Mhm.” Lance shuffled closer on his knees, reaching out to gently prod at the stone flowers sharp looking petals, only to see that they were actually as smooth as polished glass, and twice as brilliant. “Can I hold it?”

“Yeah, I mean, I picked it up for you,” Keith smiled, handing it over carefully. Lance took hold of the strange stone and grinned, laughing under his breath. 

“Pickin’ me flowers on missions, eh Keith? Want me to make you a daisy chain out of ‘em?”

Keith only looked back at him, straight faced and unimpressed. “I don't even know what a daisy chain is, but I know that that thing was just a cool looking blue rock when I picked it up, and you're lucky I didn't just throw it at your head.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lance snorted, but as he moved to his feet and walked away, back to his own digging station, he noticed the stone crackling again. He turned back to ask Keith what it was doing, but Keith had returned to the business of harvesting shards of crystal, and Lance figured whatever it was, he could handle it. 

In his hand, the flowerlike formation bloomed even further, until it unfurled into a near perfect replica of a rose, as delicate as stained glass. Lance stared at it, then shouted for Keith. 

“Dude, look at it now! It got cooler!” He waved the rock in the air and Keith caught sight of it, smiling for a second before returning to his work, only rolling his eyes for a moment when Lance added, “It must like me better!”

“Keep tellin’ yourself that, Lance.” Keith laughed. “S’just a rock.”

Later, upon arrival back at the castle, Lance proudly held the stone flower in his hand as he met back up with the others. Pidge, Hunk and Shiro were adequately impressed, but Coran burst into a fit of giggles as soon as he saw Lance waving it around. 

“Always knew you were fond of yourself, Lance.” He mused. Lance stared back at him, confused. 

“What's that supposed to mean?” He demanded. Coran laughed even harder. 

“That's a  _ hart _ stone you’ve found there. They come in all colors, but it's been ages since I've seen a blue one. They're usually engagement gifts.”

“Okay?” Lance replied, still not sure what Coran was implying. “So?”

“So they're used to show someone how you feel about them,” Coran clarified. “They change to reveal the feelings between the person that picks them and the person that receives them. Like if someone despised you and gave you a hart stone, it would likely turn jagged and cut you to pieces. Crystal blossoms are usually the mark of partners, of two people who are very fond of one another. The lovelier the bloom, the more the person loves the other.” He chuckled. “I guess the same would be true for someone that picks it for themselves.”

Lance looked down at the intricately shaped stone in his hand, swallowing hard. He thought about the way it had looked when Keith had offered it out to him, the way it had grown even more beautiful in his own hand, as he thought about his teammate, and something in his stomach did a little flip. 

“Yeah,” he chuckled nervously, clutching the blossom tighter. “Yeah, I guess it would be.”

That evening, Lance found a place for the stone in his room, placing it carefully on the softest piece of clothing he could find. He wondered what would happen if Keith ever saw it there, what he might say. He wondered if he'd mention it at all, if he'd even remember it, or if he'd tease Lance about it the way Lance undoubtedly would, if the shoe were on the other foot. 

But then, maybe Lance would just tell Keith what Coran had told him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Be sure to let me know what you think, and to tell my friend how lovely their artwork is! 
> 
> Find me on [twitter](twitter.com/_quartetship_)!  
> Find me on [tumblr](quartetship.tumblr.com)!


End file.
